welcome to nhk world "newsline". japanese prime minister shinzo abe says all countries involved in territorial disputes must obey international law. he spoke in indonesia the final stop of his first trip abroad since taking office last month. abe called on china to act responsibly in the international community as its presence grows. china is involved in maritime territorial disputes with japan and a number of other nations.

prime minister abe met in jakarta with the indonesian president. they discussed china's growing activity in the south china sea. there's a group of island there that other countries say belong to them. japan and china are at odds over islands in the east china sea which the japanese control but the chinese and twainese claim. >> translator: a free and open sea governed not by force but by law is a common good that we must protect by all means with asean nations. we also welcome u.s. policy that prioritizes asia and through various economic partnerships we'll promote trade and investment to achieve the revival of the japanese economy and prosper together with asean nations. >> the president said

cooperation between china and japan is important regionally and globally. the leaders agree to promote political and security dialogue and strengthen ties. he looks for abe's experience. abe has been juggling a number of priorities since his party took power last month. and he became prime minister for a second time. nhk world has more on the issue his administration is trying to tackle. >> reporter: abe has done this job before. now he's getting a refresher course in diplomacy. he went on this tour to sound out leaders who share his concerns about china. he says chinese ships are becoming increasingly assertive. but abe is also keeping an eye on what's going on back home.

he has promised to pull japan out of deflation and revitalize the economy. and he wants to reinforce ties with countries considered to be engines of growth. abe had hoped to make washington his first foreign visit. but u.s. officials couldn't find time because of president obama's inauguration. still, abe wants to visit as soon as possible. he says the alliance is the foundation of japanese security in an increasingly difficult environment. japanese and american diplomats have been struggling to agree on how to relocate a u.s. military base in okinawa. they've run into strong opposition from residents. on top of that, the americans have been pressuring the japanese to start talks on a free trade agreement.

farmers and lobby groups are urging abe not to join the transpacific partnership. many wonder how abe will balance these pressures as we tries to achieve his goals. foreign diplomats are still trying to find out what happened after troops mounted a rescue operation at a gas plant in algeria. islamist militants took dozens of workers earlier in the week although the actual number is not known. on thursday security forces moved in and freed some of the captives. the algerian communication minister said there were casualties. reuters says 30 hostages including several foreigners were killed. the militants kidnapped the workers on wednesday near the town of amenas. it included japanese and french citizens. the militants demanded france end its military command against islamist rebels in neighboring

mali. they threatened to leave the country and take the hostages with them. supreme court forces stormed the plan. an algerian man who escaped spoke with a local television station. >> translator: i escaped by cutting the wires. i met with four foreigners on the way, and we decided to escape together. we met with the troops and they took us to a safe location. >> japanese engineering firm jgc corporation says it has been in contact with three japanese nationals working at the natural gas plant. the fate of the remaining 14 japanese is still not known. prime minister abe said at a news conference that they are both determined to continue fighting terrorism. >> translator: i believe taking the lives of innocent people is an unforgivable act. at the same time our utmost priority is to recover the

hostages alive. the situation remains unstable. we'll continue doing our very best to cope with this situation. >> the algerian government has not released any information about the fate of the freed hostage. it's not the first time the algerian government has used military force to deal with extremists. we get a perspective on the political situation. >> reporter: the algerian government hard line approach can be traced back to the decade-long war that ended in 2002. in 1991, islamic parties won a landslide victory in the country's first democratic election. but one year later, military forces carried out a coup on the grounds they were protecting the republican system.

>> translator: algerian history has a precedent for terrorist tactics leading to victory. in the case of the war of independence against france. so in a sense there's a kind of justification for terrorism. and at the same time there's the idea of never surrendering in the face of terror coming from the enemy. >> reporter: the civil war claimed the lives of 200,000 people. it involved indiscriminate bombings and widespread human rights violations. the president was elected for the first time in 1999. he was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. he chose to deal with militant groups in two ways. he invited them to lay down

their weapons to participate in rebuilding the nation. and at the same time he continued cracking down on their activities. observers say this approach has gained broad support amongst the public. >> translator: the government was afraid that negotiating with the kidnappers and making concessions could lead to a loss of legitimacy. so from the historical point of view and looking at the government's concerns about legitimacy it was difficult to find any room for compromise. >> eu foreign ministers feel it's a haven for terrorist groups. they held an emergency meeting in brussels. they agreed to train government

forces in mali. the islamist rebels control the northern part of the country. french troops moved in friday to stop them from pushing south. france ruled the country forde kids a until independence in 1960. the mali government asked the french for help. the eu ministers said they would send trainers. an advance team will arrive in a few days. the rest will set up a camp near the capital. it will not play a combat role. >> it's about the security of the people and in this context all the people of mali. we know very well how all of this needs to fit together into a comprehensive strategy. >> mali's foreign minister attended the meeting. he said people in the country must work towards stability and can do so with international support. >> the bank of japan is intended

to be an independent body making their own decisions on interest rates among others but the central bank and the government just got closer. ron madison has more details on that. >> you're right. you usually see much more of a division. but we're seeing much more corporation under the current environment. the government and central bank discussing a joint policy statement which will be issued by both sides after the latest meeting. the economic revitalization minister said they are closer to reaching an agreement. they met with the bank of japan governor for half an hour on friday morning, exchanged views on the joint statement. this will stipulate measures aimed at pulling the country out of deflation. based on the interaction so far the bank and central government is likely to come up with a clear declaration they will set an inflation target at 2%. the two sides are to make

agreement for the government to work on economic growth. >> translator: we talked about how we can work together but i'll not comment any further. >> translator: we discussed how the government and the central bank can further boost cooperation. the meeting was productive. >> amari was positive on development. he hinted the joint policy statement may it please lead to bolder monetary easing steps. let's get a check of the markets. first checking in on asian shares which were higher today, we had a pick up in china's economic growth supporting the market sentiment in the region. japan's nikkei index the big winner in the region it hit its highest level in two years and nine months. that's due to the weakness. hong kong's hang seng index closed at a high level.

let's get a check of europe. we got fairly mixed picture at this time. we're seeing gains right now for the london market up more than half a percent. frankfurt market is down fractionally at this time. we're seeing gains for paris cac 40 about a quarter percent higher. the dollar and euro are maintaining up ward momentum. dollar/yen is currently at 89.80. euro yen is changing hands at 119.96. the currency touched the 116 yen level at one stage during this week. the yen is facing selling pressures due to strong expectations that the bank of japan will ease credit further. a japan based free phone and messaging service called line is spreading fast. company officials say the number of users topped 100 million on

friday. pretty exciteed. the service via smartphones is provided by nhn a subsidiary of a south korean i.t. firm in japan. senior nh officials and employees got together at the company's headquarters on friday to celebrate the milestone. the service started in june of 2011. it took on lie 19 no, sir reach that 100 million mark. that's faster than facebook. nh officials say more than 40 million users are here in japan but the service is also very popular in south korea, taiwan and middle eastern countries. companies and public institutions are using the service for advertising and public relations. the japanese government uses it to send out the prime minister's messages. other i.t. firms have begun providing similar service. a japanese company dna started to provide a service called come

last october. yahoo! has tied up with a south korean business to start a business, kakau talk. >> sony reached a deal to sell it's u.s. headquarters in new york. the electronics maker announced the plan on thursday. it will sell the building to a group of investors for $1.1 billion. sony says the deal will be completed this march. the firm will stay in the building for up to three years through a lease agreement. sony had originally bought the 36 story skyscraper back in 2002. the firm suffered four consecutive year of loss. sony plans to cut 10,000 jobs worldwide. that's going to do it for biz tonight. here's a check of the markets.

japanese and u.s. authorities are jointly investigating battery problems on a boeing 787 dreamliner. the passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing in japan on wednesday. u.s. experts arrived at the airport on friday with the troubled dream line certificate parked. it's from the ntsb and federal aviation administration. the pilot brought the plane down after cockpit instruments indicated smoke and battery related problems. the main battery installed under the cockpit had burned. the official said it may have overheated due to excess current. japanese and u.s. investigators will examine the main battery

and surrounding electrical network. they expect a safety switch designed for overheating may have failed. this is the latest in a spate of incidents. japanese transportation officials inspecting boeing dreamliners say they've identified problems with a fuel control system on another plane. the 787 suffered a fuel leak on sunday near tokyo days after a similar incident in boston. in both instances fuel spilled from two nozzles located on the left wing. the devices are meant to release excess fuel from the tanks. in the latest incident, pilots said a display in the cockpit indicated valves adjusting the flow of fuel were closed when they were actually opened. investigators have now identified a defect in the valve system. the system is powered by an electric motor. it's operated from the cockpit. a british company makes the

valve. investigators found last week's incident in boston found the same type of device. japan's transport ministry plans to send a team next week to meet with representatives of the manufacturer. a group of researchers is urging people in japan to think about worst case scenarios. they say it's the on lie way to prepare for a huge quake in the pacific. one that could claim more than 300,000 lives. >> reporter: these are experts for disaster prevention. they have been studying the quake that devastated kobe 18 years ago. this professor is leading the

study and the call to be prepared. >> translator: quake survivors can't carry on without water, food and fuel. that's a vital issue. >> reporter: the expert's main concern is water. they expect a severe shortage after the big one strikes. a major quake off the pacific coast could affect the most populated area of japan, leaving 50 million in desperate need of water. the group estimates these areas will need a total 100,000 kilo liters of water on day one. in all companies have been 560,000 kilo liters of bottled water in their distribution systems. researchers say quake survivors will run through that supply in about one week.

the 1995 quake demonstrated how quickly water supply lines break down after a major disaster. many survivors in kobe had to collect water from burst pipes. these scenes could be repeated on a much bigger scale in the next major quake. to be prepared, experts say the japanese need to think about worst case scenarios. >> translator: food and water shortages could set off looting. no looting has been reported in japan, even during major disasters. but we must assume it can happen, depending on the situation. >> reporter: in 1995 quake it was a wake up call. local governments began stocking

up on water and other supplies. but it may not be enough. they are now reviewing their emergency preparedness plans. distribution locates is under review. local officials have signed deals with retail chains. the companies have agreed to supply essential goods in times of disaster. retail giant held a nationwide drill to test its preparedness. the group had signed a pact with

200 municipalities expected to be hit by the huge quake. >> translator: we're still short of bottled water. >> translator: do you have a stockpile? >> translator: simulations are needed to determine the demand for relief supplies. the data obtained should be the basis for discussions involving both public and private sectors. >> translator: based on the estimated number of evacuees we should examine the amount of supplies needed. >> reporter: the central government has set up a council to identify challenges expected to arrive during the disaster. officials from local governments and private companies are taking part. >> translator: it will be difficult to minimize damage by

taking conventional approaches. i believe we will be able to find effective measures by studying ways to avoid the worst case scenario. >> reporter: the panel's mission is to identify and assess the risk that japan would face. it believes the on lie way to minimize damages in the case of a giant disaster is assuming the worst possible scenarios. more snow on the way in some parts of japan. it's going to be a cold one over the weekend. meteorologist robert speta is here with more. robert. >> reporter: well, gene, at least in tokyo you're right very cold here. the good news things are just too dry for any cloud cover really to develop here across much of the continent. where you'll be seeing that snow is off here towards the west,

about 70 centimeters is expected going through saturday as the sea effect snow machine pulls in that cold air from the northwest running across the warm waters in the sea of japan and that moisture has to go somewhere and it dumps on the west coast. that's what we've been seeing. tokyo maybe by tuesday going into wednesday there will be a system developing up. we'll watch that. there's a risk of some light snow by then. but for now out here towards the west high pressure is dominating. bringing very dry conditions. cold temperatures as it continues to push further down there towards the south. you'll be seeing temperatures dropping as far south as the philippines. as it does so, remember this has a clock wise rotation. towards hong kong out towards shanghai you'll see temperatures rebound going through the weekend. shanghai just a few days ago you were seizing temperatures near the freezing mark getting up to around 10 slightly above average down towards hong kong at 17.

seoul, temperatures back in the single digits, below zero which we've been seeing for several days. tokyo 9 for the high on saturday. now towards the americas, we haven't watched an area here in the southeast. that's pushing off toward the east. that's the good news. behind it we're seeing high pressure move in. that's bringing some colder weather with it but nothing compared to what's going to be on tap here off towards the sto in from northern canada down here towards the southeast ushering in gusty winds but also very, very cold temperatures. how cold? here in winnipeg you'll be seeing a high around minus 8 on friday but going into sunday this is going to be the low down around minus 30, same there in the dakotas, combined with those gusty winds i'm talking about, wind chill on lie in the overnight hours can get around minus 50 degrees celsius. if you're out and about in temperatures like that, frostbite due to the exposure of

that air really could result in just a matter of minutes. that's going to be very dangerous going into the early part of next week as those temperatures start to fall off. go somewhere warm. los angeles 26 for the high to start off your weekend here. now into europe, talking about snow showers across the british isles, looks like a storm system is on tap as we have this system coming in off the atlantic bringing in an ample amount of moisture with it. start to interact with this high pressure that's been keeping things cold across much much of western europe, british isles, france and southern portions of uk. expect 25 to 30 centimeters in some areas as it pushes off to the east. five to ten centimeters. spain and portugal you're seeing some rain on saturday. that will switch over to snow. this is part of an elongated pattern. the balkans you could see some

snow showers. temperatures remain on the chilly side getting up to my us 1 in kiev. moscow minus 9. london and paris lingering here around the freezing mark. here's a look at the extended forecast. japan's empress has attended many concerts over the years but none possibly as meaningful as the recital she attended this

week. the empress joined the audience at a recital by a mexican violinist. the event include joint performance with japanese violinist. the two violins were crafted from the pillars of houses that were swept away by the 2011 tsunami. the violins include parts of a pine tree that survived the tsunami and became a symbol of hope. but the tree later died. ♪ 1,000 violinists are taking turns playing the violins in memory of the tsunami victims. so far 115 violinists have performed using the instruments. we'll be back in 30 minutes

with more news. i'm gene otani in tokyo.